Trolley duct and collector therefor



April 8, 1958 J. A. HERRMANN ET AL 2,830,137

' TROLLEY DUCT AND COLLECTOR THEREFOR Original Filed July 1, 1950INVENTOR-ST 171 A? A errmann 720.40! 7/ /42:

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United States Patehtf TROLLEY DUCT AND CULLECTOR THEREFOR John'A.Herrmann, Grosse Pointe Farms, and Elwood T. Platz, Detroit, Mich,assignors, by mesne assignments, to I-T-E Circuit Breaker Company,Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Original applicationJuly 1, 1950, Serial No. 171,588, now Patent No. 2,636,532, datedDecember 7, 1954. Divided and this application August 24, 1954, SerialNo. 451,883

2 Claims. (Cl. 191-23) 7 This invention relates to electricaldistribution systems of the trolley duct type, and particularly to noveltrolleys useful in such systems. This application is a. division ofpending application No. 171,588, filed July 1, 1950, now Patent No.2,696,532.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a novel typeor" trolley arranged to provide a high degree of smoothness of movementalong the duct and also arranged to be separable so as to be readilyapplicable to, or removable from, a duct at any point thereof.

A further object is to provide a novel form of trolley usefulparticularly with a duct of the open channel type with the trolleyhaving sides and a bottom which completcly shield the trolley contactsat their points of engagement with the bus bars.

Generally, the trolley herein described comprises a bottom plate andside plates with the latter having rollers for riding on the uppersurface of the channel duct. The lower orbottom surface of the trolleyis formed with upwardly projecting contactors or collectors which engagethe undersurfaces of bus bars thatmay be mounted in the channel duct andexposed to the open bottom of the duct. The bottom wall of the trolleymay be formed with upwardly extending end portions to complete theenclosure of the space under the duct encompassed by the trolley so thatthe collectors and cont-actors within the trolley are completelyshielded from outside the trolley. A more complete description of a ductconfiguration that is particularly suitable for use with the trolley ofthe instant invention may be had by reference to patent application No.164,247, filed on May 25, 1950, now U. S. Patent 2,675,434, and assignedto the assignee of the present invention. 7

Details of construction of the trolley herein disclosed will best beunderstood upon reference to the appended drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a bottom plan view of the trolley showing parts cut away.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the trolley with parts cut away.

A trolley duct, more fully described in the aforementioned co-pendingapplication, may include a casing made up of two halves 4li-42 (Fig. 2).Each is of ogee form and has a central flange 43. Meeting flanges 43 maybe riveted together by rivets passed through rivet holes, some of whichholes may be utilized to receive bolts or other fastening means enablingthe duct to be connected to vertical hangers (not shown).

Running from end to end of each unit length is an insulation liner 58 ofthin, flexible insulation material.

rigid enough to be shape-sustaining and self-supporting but flexibleenough to be bent on longitudinal edges of its ridges to permit U-shapedbus bars 60 of the form shown in Fig. 2 to be held by shoulders of theinsulation liner 58.

For use with the open bottom channel type trolley duct brieflydescribed, there is provided a trolley (Figs. 1 and 2,830,137 1 PatentedApr. 8, 1 958 20f this application) comprising a base or bottom plate340 which may be of sheet metal having bent-up ends or end plates 342(Fig. 1). End plates 342 have pins 343 which provide pivots for links344 integrally connected to side plates 348 upon which are the rollers350. The pairs of links 344- are centrally connected as at 351, and hailextensions 352]) connect the central pin connections 351 with the bail352 extending longitudinally under the base plate 340. Projectingdownwardly from the base plate are lugs 353 having stop surfaces 354 andcam surfaces 355. A spring 356 connects the bail 352 to base plate 340and biases the bail to the right, Fig. 2.

Normally the bail is positioned under the stop lugs 353 so that the stopsurfaces 354 of these lugs are engaged by the bail 352, and this holdsthe central pivots 351 and links 344 down and thus holds the side plates348 close to each other in the duct engaged position, as seen in thesolid lines of Figure 2.

However, if the bail 352 is initially moved to the left manually (Fig.2), it will disengage stop surface 354 and then automatically it willmove up and to the right on cam surface 355 toward the base plate 340and release the central pivots 351 so that the links 344 can rock onthey move the links 344 so that the central pivots 351' move downwardly(Figure 2) whereupon the bail 352 will initially ride down and to theleft (as seen in Figure 2) on the cam surfaces 355 of the lugs 353projecting down from the base plate and finally cross over theintersections of surfaces 355354 and hook under the stop surfaces 354 ofthese lugs 353 to restore the side Walls to ductengaged position, asseen in the solid lines of Figure 2.

The trolley is equipped with the fuse block, connectors and contactorsdisclosed in application Serial No. 171,588, now U. S. Patent 2,696,532,hereinabove mentioned.

it will be observed that the trolley herein described is designedespecially for use with the open channel type of duct here disclosed andis formed to ride freely on the horizontal upper surface of suchchannel, with the collectors projecting upwardly from the bottom of thetrolley to the bus bars through the open bottom of the channel. Thebottom plates of the trolley, together with the side plates and endplates, form a complete and effective shield around the collectors ofthe trolley and with the points of contact of such collectors with theduct bus bars.

We claim:

1. For use with a trolley duct comprising an open bottom channel casingof inverted U form and having bus bars or rails under the casing andexposed on their own undersurfaces, a trolley type collector having abottom plate, two side plates movably connected thereto at their lowerportions and having supporting rollers on and inside their upperportions for rolling on the top wall of the casing, bus bar contactorson the bottom plate projecting upwardly to engage the bus bars or rails,and actuating means movable to bias the side plates of the collectortoward each other, support means secured to said bottom platedisengageable locking means Within the trolley type collector wherebysaid rollers interlock over the top wall of the casing when said lockingmeans is engaged with said support means and positively separate andremain separated when said locking means is disengaged from said supportmeans, said 'disengageable locking means comprising a toggle linkage andspring 3. means; said actuating means being supported from disengageablelocking means.

2. For use with a trolley duct comprising an open bottom channel casingof inverted U form and having bus bars or rails under the casing andexposed on their own undersurfaces, a trolley type collector having abottom plate, two side plates movably connected thereto at their lowerportions and having supporting rollers on and inside their upperportions for rolling on the top Wall of the casing, bus bar oontactorson the bottom plate projecting upwardly to engage the bus bars or rails,disengageable locking means comprising projections extending inwardlyfrom each end of said side plates, linked into toggles, a bail belowsaid bottom plate pivotally connected to said toggles for upwardlyeffectuating a simultaneous release of both side plates therebyreleasing said trolley 4 p collector for removal from said duct, a lugsecured to the bottom surface of said bottom plate and having a camsurface and bottomsurface said bail engaging said bottom surface of saidlug when said rollers are interlocked over the top of said duct, saidbail being constucted and operatively positioned to permit said bail tomove into engagement with said cam surface and spring means rotatablyurging said bail against said cam surface, said bail being manuallymoved along said cam surfaces to permit said References Cited in thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 19,513 Frank et a1. Apr.2, 1935

